Less than 24 hours after an upset of previously-unbeaten Pembroke Academy that sent a buzz across Division II, the Portsmouth High School boys basketball team found itself in another battle, against a quick Kennett team that arrived in town with very little sympathy.

It took just about all of the game’s 32 minutes for the Clippers (8-2) to get the upper hand in a defensive struggle that wasn’t settled until the final minutes, 42-36 in their favor on Friday.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Portsmouth coach Jim Mulvey. “(Thursday) night took a lot out of us because we played so hard and it was an emotional game, too.”

Senior guard Ryan Vajentic scored a game-high 22 points and the Eagles (7-3) stayed in the home team’s face all night. It bore no resemblance to their last trip here, an 80-43 loss 50 weeks ago.

“We were completely dominated physically and were not prepared (last year),” said Kennett coach Steve Cote. “This year, with pretty much the whole team returning, there were no surprises. … We did everything we could tonight.”

Guard Charlie Lehoux and forward De’vonn Wilson-Miles had 10 points apiece for Portsmouth, and forward Patrick Glynn added nine. It was Lehoux’s three from the top of the key early in the fourth quarter that put his team up 29-27, a lead they’d take to the finish line.

Still, it was treated afterward as a flawed win.

“We’re not going to have any excuses,” said Lehoux. “We didn’t come out hard; we had no prowess on defense. We turned the ball over too much.”

There was no letdown on the defensive end in the first half, at least for the first 15 minutes.

The Clippers closed the first quarter with a 12-2 run to lead 12-6 at period’s end. They had a modest — if not particularly good-looking — 18-12 edge as the clock ticked under a minute in the first half.

That’s when Vajentic made things fun. He drained a deep 3-pointer from a couple feet behind the arc. Then, after a turnover at the other end and the final seconds ticking off, he got the ball 20 feet out facing away from the basket, and somehow flung a shot over his head that swished, tying the score 18-18 at halftime.

“Eighteen to 12, and he gets those back-to-back threes,” said Mulvey. “But that’s what happens when you’re not winning the battles, the 50-50 balls.”

Cote said a focus for his team was defensive rebounding, keeping board-crashers like Glynn and Wilson-Miles from grabbing second chances. They’d done a decent job to that point, and the Vajentic shots sent them into halftime on cloud nine.

“Ryan is one of those kids that’s super-athletic,” said Cote. “He’s been in this program for four years. Not to say he ever practices shots like that, but those types of athletes, when the adrenaline’s going, every once in a while it goes in. It was a huge emotion boost for us.”

The Eagles didn’t go away after halftime, either. Sophomore Will Pollard (10 points), battling foul trouble, put his team ahead with a pull-up midway through the third. Vajentic was fouled late on a 3-point try and made all three free throws, giving the Eagles a 27-26 heading to the fourth.

The fourth quarter was the Clippers’ best. Three minutes after Lehoux opened the scoring with his three, point guard Nick Mackey made one of his own to put their team up 32-27.

Forward Mark Lautenschlager and Pollard made hoops on back-to-back trips to cut it to 32-31, but Wilson-Miles tossed in a nifty, left-handed baby hook and the defensive pressure finally forced a couple turnovers to end things.

Not a masterpiece. But another win to close out a 3-0 week for the Clippers.

“Sometimes you just have to tip have to tip your cap,” said Mulvey. “That’s the first time all season I would say another team outworked us.”

“In order to compete with the highest level of D-II,” said Cote, “we have to outwork them.”